A Wasteland Romance
by Carreercrim331
Summary: After dealing with the Enclave, Lone Wanderer Mitchel Rider leaves the Brotherhood to deal with personal matters. When he meets an unusual woman, his life takes a turn in another direction. I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

Mitchel Rider sighed as he sat in his chair. He leaned back, looking at his Megaton house's ceiling, his thoughts going over what had happened the last few months.

The Enclave were gone. There was no other way to describe it. There was the occasional group that popped up in a camp at times, but they were in a disorganized mess. With Autumn and Eden both gone, their leadership was in chaos. The Wanderer remembered how he had felt as he nuked their mobile crawler, delivering a finishing blow to the Enclave's command structure.

After he had destroyed the base and returned to the Brotherhood, he and Elder Lyons had had a private discussion regarding Mitchel's future. They had parted peacefully, Mitchel being marked as on 'indefinite leave'. He now spent his days doing what he had before he had met the Brotherhood or the Enclave, wandering the wastes and helping those in need. He smiled as he remembered the grateful faces of people he had saved from Super Mutants, raiders and all sorts of other problems.

His smile fled as he remembered his father, his green eyes filled with pain. James Rider had been a great man, trying to make the wastes a better place and give the populace a single piece of hope with his water purification plan.

Then the Enclave had tried to steal his work and make themselves the heroes in his place, never mind the genocide that they would have needed to accomplish their goal.

Mitchel's thoughts moved on to happier memories of his father, ultimately resulting in remembering the Vault.

He remembered when he had come back, responding to Amata's message. And after everything he had done to help them, she had still-

'_No!' _Mitchel caught himself, sitting up straight and running a hand through his brown hair, front to back. _'Don't think about it. It doesn't matter anymore.' _The wanderer told himself the same thing every time the events in the Vault had sprung into his mind. It was too hard to think about, so he chose not to.

Sighing, the Lone Wanderer stood and turned to his room, intent on grabbing his armour. He needed to clear his head.

Somewhere in the wastes, some group of raiders were going to die.

* * *

><p>It was a typical day in the Capital Wasteland. Particular in a raider camp a few miles from Megaton. The camp was inside the remains of what appeared to be a school. A long, two floored building, most of it having collapsed, but some still accessible. The guard was in his typical foul mood as he drummed his fingers on his assault rifle. It was in poor condition and would need to be replaced before long, but could still kill most of the local wildlife.<p>

The raider spat on the ground angrily. He could have been out in the wastes with his fellow raiders, doing and taking whatever they wanted. Caps, weapons, slaves, whatever they wanted. But no. He had to make that stupid bet and be stuck guarding the building for the next three weeks. His fist tightened with anger at the thought.

He was so busy glaring at the empty wastes in front of him that he didn't hear the sound of a gun being loaded behind him or the almost silent movements of someone taking aim.

It wasn't until he heard the quite cough of a 10mm bullet exiting a silencer that he knew he wasn't alone, but by then it was too late. The bullet had implanted itself in his skull.

The guard was dead before his body hit the ground.

"Well, that takes care of that." Said a dark haired woman as she lowered her silenced weapon and began reloading. A small smile broke out on her face. "Good thing raiders are idiots."

The woman turned her attention to the body, taking the few caps he had in his possession as well as his ammunition. She smiled as she turned back to the door. "In we go then."

The Interior of the school was the same as most other buildings, dark and cold. The woman kept low to the ground, her pistol still out as she moved, trying to remain silent. She passed a few rooms, finding them unoccupied except for a few Radroaches, but they were easily dealt with was the woman stabbed them with her switchblade.

She continued through the building, watching for traps but found none. Apparently, these raiders were sure no one would get past the single guard out front. Finding the stairwell, the woman proceeded to the second floor.

The woman smirked as she came across what she had been looking for, a safe partially concealed behind one of the many desks that littered the floor. The woman smiled, slipping her gun into the holster she had on her belt. Carefully, she knelt in front of it, pulling a pin out of her hair and slipping it into the lock.

For several moments, the only sounds that could be heard were quite clicks and scrapes as the woman attempted to pick the lock, along with her voice saying quite curse words as she worked.

The woman was so focused on getting the safe open that she, quite foolishly, forgot to keep an eye on her surroundings.

"Well, look what we have here." Came a voice from behind her.

The woman spun, grabbing her switchblade and prepared to stab, but it was too late. A large hand grabbed the side of her head and slammed it against the safe she had been working on.

Her world went dark instantly.

* * *

><p>Mitchel entered the school with no opposition, much to his confusion. The raider who had been guarding was dead, his body searched and anything of value taken.<p>

Normally, Mitchel wouldn't have thought twice about it, but the way the raider had died confused him. Most people would assume that he had been killed by other raiders or super mutants, but neither of them seemed to fit.

Raiders would have taken his armour and weapon as well. On top of that, the raider had only taken one shot to the back of the head. If he had been killed by his fellow raiders, they wouldn't have stopped with that, wasting their ammunition even after it was very clear the man was dead. But there were no other wounds on the dead raider.

As for super mutants, they wouldn't have left the body in such and undamaged state either, instead blasting away with their high powered weapons and leaving massive wounds, but no evidence was present of them either.

Confused, Mitchel entered the building. His confusion grew quickly as he walked through the cold halls, his shotgun fully loaded and in these halls, it's not like he could very well miss with it's wide spread.

He turned a corner and arrived at another room, this time noting that the guard outside hadn't been the only casualties when whoever had been here had come.

The bodies of Radroaches covered the floor, all of them cut and stabbed with a small blade.

Continuing on, the Wanderer arrived at the stairwell and began climbing, remaining alert for threats, but finding none. He continued until he heard voices from down the hall. Dropping down and keeping low, Mitchel crept closer and began to hear full words.

"….orth something, don't you think?" said one raider as he looked down at a figure who lay slumped against a wall, a small amount of blood dripping from her head.

Another raider smirked. "The pretty ones always are." He knelt down and turned the fallen woman's face to see him. "I might just have to keep this one myself."

Mitchel had heard enough. Slipping his shotgun over his shoulder, he drew his Blackhawk. His shotgun might work better most of the time, but if he fired it in these conditions, chances were he'd hit the woman as well as the raiders.

As the raider kneeling by the woman's side turned to smirk up as his cohort, his smirk vanished as the man suddenly lurched forward and fell, a bloody mess in the back of his head.

He didn't have much time to consider this as Mitchel stepped into the room, Blackhawk in hand and aimed at the raider's head.

The raider didn't get a chance to say anything, as Mitchel fired again, sending the raider to join his friend.

Lowering the weapon, Mitchel knelt next to the fallen woman, checking her for wounds. He quickly found that the only wound she was sporting was the gash on the side of her head. Turning, Mitchel saw that there was a small office near them, only one entrance and what appeared to be an old mattress laying on the floor. Making a decision, Michel carefully lifted the injured woman and brought her into the office, laying her on the mattress before pulling a stimpak out of his armour's pocket. After giving the woman an injection of the medicine, he turned to the door, making sure it was securely sealed. After making sure it was, Mitchel pulled his shotgun off and rested it against the wall. Taking a breath, he turned back to his new companion.

The first thing he felt was fist to his stomach.

The woman had come back to consciousness faster than he had expected and had apparently come to the conclusion that he was an enemy. His armour softened the blow, but it still knocked the wind out of him as he fell onto his rear, leaning against the wall.

The woman quickly grabbed her pistol and took aim at the Wanderer's head. "Raider bastard!"

Mitchel raised his hands slowly, not breaking eye contact. "I'm not a raider."

The woman shook her head, an angry glint in her eye. "You knock me out, then bring me in here and lock to door and expect me to believe you're not a raider?! Do you think I'm stupid?!"

"If I was a raider, why would I let you keep your weapons?" Mitchel pointed out, his voice remaining calm. He was used to dealing with life or death situations at this point.

The woman seemed to consider this, her gun lowering slightly.

"I wasn't the one who knocked you out. I think the men who did that are outside." Mitchel said, his hands remaining in sight of the woman and not making a movement towards any of his weapons.

The woman slowly moved to the door, her eyes never leaving Mitchel as she opened to door and checked outside, noting the bodies that lay outside. She returned to look at the Wanderer. "You killed them?"

Mitchel nodded. "The way the talked about you, I could tell you weren't one of them, so I decided to help you."

The woman looked him in the eye and Mitchel felt his breath catch in his throat. The woman's blue eyes bore into his green ones. The Wanderer couldn't have moved even if he wanted to.

Finally, the woman slipped her gun into it's holster and let out a sigh. "Sorry for attacking you like that." Her voice held a note of genuine apology in it and she offered him a hand.

Mitchel smiled and accepted the hand has she helped him to his feet. The woman made a small distance between them, her eyes taking in the room. "What time is it?" she asked when she noticed the dark sky through the window.

Mitchel triggered his pip-boy. "About 9:30."

The woman sighed again, lowering her head. "We probably shouldn't be going through the wasteland at night."

Mitchel nodded. "Too dangerous."

The woman walked over and sat down on one of the desks in the office. It had probably been pushed over from the center of the room to make room for the mattress. "Well, I guess we're stuck here for the night, then."

Mitchel nodded. "I guess so."

The two were silent for a few minutes before Mitchel spoke again. "You know, we haven't really been introduced." He offered the woman a hand. "Mitchel Rider."

For the first time since they had met, the woman smiled. She accepted the hand. "Victoria Gemini."

**A/N: So I had this idea that would not leave me alone. Reviews welcome, Flamers are not!**


	2. Chapter 2

Mitchel woke up after only a few hours of sleep, a habit he had learned during his adventures in the wasteland. He sat up from the mattress, feeling his bones creak as he stood and stretched. After a moment, he noticed that the room had changed slightly since he had fallen asleep.

Victoria was not inside it.

Mitchel sighed as he pushed himself up onto his feet and headed towards the door, leaving the room behind.

He was pleasantly surprised when he exited.

"Morning, Mitch." Said Victoria as she finally opened the safe she had attempted to pick the night before.

Mitchel smiled. "Morning."

As Victoria reached into the safe, something on her wrist caught Mitchel's eye. "Is that pip-boy?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah, it is."

Mitchel stepped closer. "You came from a vault?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah. Vault 57."

Mitchel tilted his head. "I thought I had found all the vaults in the capital wasteland."

Victoria smirked. "57 isn't in the capital wasteland. It's farther north, closer to where Canada used to be." As the woman spoke, she reached into the safe and pulled out a rather large amount of caps. "Jackpot." The woman took a couple handfuls and put them into a bag on her belt, but pushed the rest towards Mitchel. "Here's your share."

Mitchel looked stunned. There were very few people in the wastes who would give away caps. "My share?"

Victoria turned to him, her eyes locking with his. "You saved me from those raiders when you could have left me here. You had no reason to help me, but you still did. For that, I think you deserve a share."

Mitchel stayed where he was for a moment, but then smiled and slipped the caps into a pouch he carried for this purpose. After doing so, the Wanderer turned to his new friend. "So, Victoria, what will you do now?"

Victoria stood and stretched her arms behind her. This brought Mitchel's attention to her armour. It looked like it had once been a set of standard combat armour, but someone had done…..something to the material, giving it almost a sparkle when the light hit it properly. Victoria also wore a belt that was almost completely covered in pouches and, along with her silenced 10mm, she had a laser pistol hanging on the other side of her hip. In one of the pouches, several energy cells were visible.

"Well." Victoria began. "I'm heading to see my brother. He's a couple hour's walk from here."

Mitchel nodded. "Is he at a settlement or something?"

Victoria was tilted her head, considering. "Sort of. Nico has his own place, locked up nice and tight from the outside." She looked like she was about to continue but something flashed in her eyes and she asked a different question. "What was your last name again?"

"Rider. Mitchel Rider." Mitchel told her.

The woman's eye seemed to shine. "As in the Lone Wanderer, Mitchel Rider? Mr. Vault 101? Bane of the Enclave and Savior of the wasteland?"

Mitchel nodded, smiling. "That's me."

Victoria smiled widely. "My brother was obsessed with you, you know. He listened to Three-Dog every day, hoping to hear more of your adventures as he worked."

Mitchel rolled his eyes. "Great. Just what I needed, another fan."

Victoria let out a laugh. "Yeah." An idea struck her. "Do you want to meet him?"

Mitchel thought about it for a moment before responding. "I don't see why not."

Victoria smiled again as she stood. "Alright then. Let's get going."

The pair left the school together, Victoria leading Mitchel South-West. As they walked, Mitchel told a few stories about his travels.

"…..right into a raider camp." Mitchel said smiling as Victoria tried, and failed, to contain her laughter.

"Really?!" Victoria couldn't believe it. "You fell into a raider camp wearing nothing but a mini-gun on your back?"

Michel blushed slightly as he returned her smile. "To this day I don't know what happened to my armour….or clothes."

Victoria broke out once again, her laugh being a very merry sound on the wasteland. The pair continued back and forth with stories and good natured jabs at each other until Victoria came to halt.

"Here we are." She said as she approached what appeared to be an old shed, Mitchel following, looking very confused.

The pair entered the shed to find it empty, or so Mitchel thought. Victoria reached down to the floor and, clearing away some dirt, revealed a hand-hold. Reaching in, the woman pulled, causing a large section of the floor to flip open on hidden hinges, revealing a metal staircase down.

Mitchel was shocked as Victoria gestured for him to enter. "How'd you find this?" He asked as Victoria closed the door behind them. A set of dim lights flicked on as they continued down the stairs.

Victoria squeezed past him to lead the way. "In 57, my dad found some old files from before everything got nuked. One of them had a map, showing marked with places, but it didn't say what they were. So when my brother and I got to the capital wastes, we thought, why not? Let's see what's here." She gestured to metal walls. "This is what we found."

By the time she finished talking, the pair had arrived at thick metal door, sealed tightly shut with a terminal to the side. Victoria approached the terminal and hit a few keys before the door seemed to hiss as the hydraulics kicked in and cleared the way.

Mitchel looked around with interest as Victoria led him in. "How is this place still functional? All this equipment must need maintenance."

Victoria led him to another staircase going downwards. "My brother has a theory about that. He said something about it being meant to function with a minimal population. It could still function comfortably with only a single person living here." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Something like that, at least. Nico is such a nerd."

"I heard that!" came a voice from the room ahead, followed by a series of sparks.

Standing at a workbench in the center of the room, was a young man. His hair was black, like Victoria's and he was wearing what looked like a mechanic's uniform as he pulled a tool away from project. He turned, showing his eyes covered by a pair of dark goggles. He then lifted them, revealing blue eyes.

Victoria smirked. "I know you did. That's why I said it."

The man sighed in irritation before noticing Mitchel standing there. "Victoria, who is this?" He asked, looked to the corner of the room, where a laser rifle was leaning against the wall.

Victoria smirked. "Oh, don't start with that, Nico. I thought you might want to meet your hero."

Nico froze. "You mean…this is..?"

Mitchel stepped up to him and offered a hand. "Mitchel Rider."

The man was still before accepting the hand earnestly. "Nico Gemini."

Nico looked to his sister, and back to the Wanderer. "Care to join us for some dinner, Mr. Rider?"

Mitchel smiled. "Sure. And my name is Mitchel or Mitch if you prefer."

Nico beamed. "Alright then. Mitch."

Several hours later, the three of them were gathered around a work bench that had apparently be repurposed as a dinner table, eating Mirklurk meat and trading stories.

"So, Nico." Mitchel said as he cut his meat. "What are you working on? I saw some kind of armour, but I've never seen it before."

Nico smiled proudly. "Well, you Brotherhood power armour is very strong."

Mitchel nodded.

"Well, it can soak up a ton of damage, but it sacrifices mobility for it. I'm trying to create an armour that can take hits without sacrificing so much of it." Nico finished as he slipped more meat into his mouth.

Mitchel nodded. "You seem to know a lot about technology."

Victoria smirked. "My brother is a wiz with machines. He worked maintenance in 57."

Mitchel turned to her. "That reminds me. Why did the two of you leave your vault? Wouldn't it be safer than the wasteland?"

Victoria cringed slightly before turning away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Nico looked like he would give a similar response, so Mitchel chose to drop the subject.

"Alright. I'm sorry if I offended you."

Victoria's face brightened. "Don't worry about it, Mitch. Now, why don't you tell us a few more stories? I want to know more about my new friend."

Mitchel started. "We're friends?"

Victoria looked confused. "Mitch, you saved my life yesterday for no reason. If that doesn't make us friends, then I don't know what does."

Nico looked the same. "The same goes for me. Anyone who saves my sister is a friend of mine."

Mitchel was still before smiling widely. "Thank you both." As Mitchel looked down, he caught sight of the time on his pip-boy. "Good gods, its already 11:00!"

Victoria started before checking her own pip-boy. "Wow. Time really does fly when you're having fun." She turned to Mitchel. "Well, Mitch. It looks like you're staying here tonight."

Mitchel shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to impose. I can make it back to Megaton."

"Nonsense!" Exclaimed Nico, standing. "You're quite welcome here, Mitchel."

The Wanderer was still before shrugging. "Alright. If you insist."

Soon, Mitchel was in the room he had been given for the night. It was small, with a single bed against the wall. This suited Mitchel just fine, knowing that he would only be here till morning. He lay down on the bed with a sigh. These last two days had been interesting to be sure. He had met two new friends and saved another life.

Mitchel called that a victory.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mitchel pip-boy started beeping and vibrating at exactly 6:00 the next morning, pulling him out of his sleep.

Sighing, Mitchel turned reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket radio, tuning in to Three-Dog. He listened to the man's usual wording of things, but extracted the important news. The Wanderer switched off the radio and pulled himself out of bed.

"Morning Mitch." Came the voice of Victoria as she saw him enter the room. She was seated at the table from the night before, drinking some purified water.

Mitchel smiled at her. "Thanks for letting me stay here last night, but I have somewhere to be right now."

Victoria turned to him. "You were listening to Three-Dog?"

Mitchel nodded. "Talon Company are apparently setting up a new base that needs to be dealt with. I'll see you around though."

Mitchel had barely turned before Victoria had caught up with him and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him to see her. "Mitch, wait."

Mitchel turned to regard her.

The woman looked the Wanderer in the eye. "Do you…need some help?"


End file.
